{"id":26060,"date":"2021-04-19T11:45:39","date_gmt":"2021-04-19T09:45:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.testingtime.com\/?p=26060"},"modified":"2021-04-22T09:37:04","modified_gmt":"2021-04-22T07:37:04","slug":"covid-the-disruptor-and-the-case-for-rapid-customer-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.testingtime.com\/en\/blog\/covid-the-disruptor-and-the-case-for-rapid-customer-research\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID the disruptor and the case for rapid customer research"},"content":{"rendered":"

Table of contents<\/span><\/h2>\n

1. Introduction<\/a>
\n2. COVID the disruptor<\/a>
\n3. Enter rapid customer research<\/a>
\n4. Case study: Strategic\u2014unlocking big ideas<\/a>
\n5. Case study: Tactical\u2014customer-centric design<\/a>
\n6. Case study: B2B\u2014Traverz Conversational Recommendation<\/a>
\n7. Conclusion: A little certainty<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>1. Introduction<\/span><\/h2>\n

It\u2019s fair to say we have become used to innovations coming along and disrupting the status quo. It\u2019s happened very quickly in our lifetimes, but it is nothing new.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Way back in 1894, Sears launched a mail order catalogue offering a massive range, great value, convenience and customer service. It had a devastating effect on the general merchant stores. Fast forward 100 years and it was Sears\u2019 inability to act when Amazon came along with its own version of the Sears catalogue in 1994 that led to its demise.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then there are brands like Uber, which has had a disruptive effect on New York Cabs. Back in 2014, a taxi medallion was worth $1.3m, now it is worth $100,000.<\/span><\/p>\n

But what do all these disruptors have in common? In fact, look at pretty much any genuinely disruptive brand and the secret is not in simply being new or different, or making use of new technology. The secret is in satisfying previously unmet customer needs, or in meeting customer needs in more convenient, satisfying or engaging ways.<\/span><\/p>\n

What does all this have to do with research?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, the point is that, had the incumbent market leaders worked harder to understand their customers\u2014not just how they behave and buy, but how they interact, understand, respond, think, feel, perceive\u2014and acted on it, they would have been much less vulnerable to disruptive innovation.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>2. COVID the disruptor<\/span><\/h2>\n

Then along came COVID-19, a new kind of disruptor. Unlike an innovator, it has not simply responded to customer needs, but fundamentally changed them.<\/span><\/p>\n

As the chief economist at Spotify said to me recently: \u201cRetail has reached its Napster moment.\u201d That was the moment when everything the music industry had previously relied on ceased to be true.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Effectively, that is where we are in retail today, and will be for some time. In the space of a year, the pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation of retail by 10 years. Over that period, e-commerce penetration has risen by around 700%<\/span>[i]<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

But this goes deeper than consumers simply shopping online more. This is a perfect storm of:<\/span><\/p>\n